“The Starter Wife” is a wonderful six hour mini-series starring Debra Messing as Molly Kagen a glamorous Hollywood socialite, whose life is completely wrapped up in the career of her movie executive husband.
The viewer is just settling in to the glamour of Molly’s extravagant, complicated life when disaster strikes. Molly receives a call from her husband, telling her that he wants a divorce. Stunned, she retreats to her friend Joan’s (Judy Davis) beach house in Malibu to pick up the pieces and begin to make a life for herself.
She had a career as a writer before she met Kenny, and very quickly it is evident that she has intestinal fortitude, resourcefulness, and a sense of humor that gives her courage to face life without the Hollywood perks. Surrounded by friends, who refuse to abandon her when she is no longer “socially acceptable,” Molly creates a new family.
She has a compassionate spirit which leads her to befriend Lavender (Anika Noni Rose) a struggling student and security guard whose problems help put some perspective into Molly’s situation. In one of the funniest scenes of the entire production Molly rescues Joan from a messy rehab experience, pretending to be Joan’s non-existent sister Bambi. It isn’t long before Molly is helping her friend Cricket (Miranda Otto) recover from an equally unhappy spot in her marriage to Jorge (Aden Young).
Loyal friend Rodney sticks with Molly even though his world is crashing down in financial disaster.
This is a story that can be watched multiple times, because there are levels of humor and human understanding to be enjoyed. The values of relationships of all kinds are explored, and celebrated, and strength and wisdom win through.
This isn’t just a DVD, popcorn and bottle of wine series, to be enjoyed with girlfriends, although there is nothing wrong with that. It is a mature, funny, clever and sophisticated look at how we lose ourselves in roles life gives us, and how ultimately we can regain our true spirit and make something worthwhile out of existence.
The two disc DVD set contains all episodes of the miniseries, with a playing time of four hours and thirty six minutes. The production is not rated, but should be considered for mature audiences for content and situations. The series is based on the New York Times bestseller book by Gigi Levangie Grazer.
The Starter Wife is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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